Ternium and thyssenkrupp have announced that they have struck a deal regarding the sale of Brazilian slab producer Companhia Siderúrgica do Atlântico (CSA) to Ternium.

For thyssenkrupp, the sale marks a “… milestone” in its intended transformation from a steel to a technology and industrial services group, it notes in its statement. It also closes the door on the German group’s most painful venture, from which it has been wanting to exit for most of this decade.

The two companies agreed on a sale price €1.50 billion ($1.58 billion), which “… is more than anticipated by the financial market, with analysts mostly expecting around €1 billion,” thyssenkrupp’s cfo Guido Kerkhoff said on Wednesday morning at a press conference attended by Kallanish. He added that the sale price is also better than prices achieved in most transactions in the steel industry of recent years.

Nearly three years earlier, thyssenkrupp had also divested the US part of its Steel Americas division, namely the hot-rolling mill and the stainless steel rolling mill in Calvert, Alabama.

At the conference, ceo Heinrich Hiesinger said that the group had bided its time to sell off CSA. “At that time it made sense to sell Alabama, but not CSA; it was not time that dominated the process, but the quest for sensible solutions,” he said. “We accepted that, and I think it is a strength of the company that we are conscious of that responsibility,” he said.

Kerkhoff added that “… we have worked step by step on creating the conditions for the sale of CSA, making it attractive for a buyer. This is reflected in the purchase price.” CSA in the last three quarters has been operating profitably, the managers noted.

For its American venture, the German group spent in total more than €12 billion. After deducting the revenue of the sales in Brazil and Alabama, and the financial investment of former CSA partner Vale, the net loss still stands at €8 billion.

Ternium, with main its operations in Argentina and Mexico, decided to acquire the plant to secure self-sufficiency in semis. The group bought 3.7 million tonnes of slabs in 2016 having produced 6mt of crude steel and shipped 9.8mt of finished products. CSA output will feed Ternium rolling lines, while the company has agreed also to supply 2 million tonnes/year to the former thyssenkrupp Calvert mill in Alabama.